Hormel Compleats Chicken Alfredo - Not worth the fat, calories, and as for sodium... Yikes!

Review by ladyconsumer in Books, Restaurants & Gourmet in Movies

January, 17 2009

Pros: Easily portable, easy to prepare, inexpensive.

Cons: Taste is "eh". Not worth killing my diet for.

Sometimes you just want to toss the diet away and enjoy a delicious meal. Something thick, creamy, and extremely satisfying. Like pasta with a perfect Alfredo sauce. And if the meal can be simple to carry along, and easy to make, that's all the better.

Sadly, while Hormel Compleats Chicken Alfredo is easily portable, and easy to make, it just doesn't satisfy like a good Alfredo meal would. To me, Alfredo sauce should be thick, creamy, and combine the delicious tastes of butter, cheese, and cream. But in this case, the sauce is thin, and tastes just a little bit cheesy, not at all like a real Alfredo sauce from a fine Italian restaurant.

These meals do make life easy, though. They can stay on your shelf (no refrigeration) for a long time. And, their compact packaging makes them a snap to toss into a purse or briefcase.

And, it's super easy to make. Vent it, then pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds. That's it. The instructions say you could also boil the product, but I've never tried that. Doing it my way, I have a hot meal in 90 seconds, and that's just perfect for a lunch-on-the-go.

The 10 oz. meal is fairly generous. Add an apple or a salad and this is definitely a complete meal.

Of course, before you can eat the meal, you have to pull back the film. Good luck. They don't make it easy. I spill sauce every time I do it, because I have to yank so hard. And that sauce is hot after 90 seconds in the microwave!

I do have to say that this meal looks good, and smells pretty good too. You get plenty of pasta pieces. These are penne pasta - short tubes. Normally Alfredo sauce is served over long thin noodles, but from a mess-factor, these are so much easier to eat. So, no complaints from me, on the pasta's shape.

The chicken pieces are also plentiful, and they appear to be all white meat. They're a little dry for my taste, so I frequently leave them over.

Now - about that sauce. After all, an Alfredo meal is really all about the sauce. In this case, it's "ok" but that's about it. Too thin, and not nearly flavorful enough. But they do give you the right amount of it. It easily covers all of the food, without leaving puddles of it left over.

As far as nutrition goes, well you really wouldn't expect an Alfredo meal to be a diet-meal. And this one isn't. It's fairly high in fat and calories. And as for the sodium - well - it's a bit on the scary side. Yes, this meal will donate 360 calories, 20g of fat, and 1300mg of sodium to your daily intake. Yikes. Good thing I don't actually love this meal, so I'm not tempted to buy it again!

I wouldn't purchase this product again. Its taste is average, absolutely nothing special, and it's high in fat, calories, and sodium. At about $2 each when I can catch a sale, I do like the Hormel line of products. But this one doesn't win any awards with me.